Fuji, juju singers win millions at Ariya Repete talent hunt

Ashafa Martins, Ayodele Olatunji and members of Oludare Cultural Group emerged overall winners at the grand finale of the Ariya Repete talent hunt.

The grand finale, a culmination of three months auditioning of 5,000 acts across the south-west and Ilorin, held at the Trans Amusement Park, Ibadan, Oyo state capital.

Martins won a N2 million prize for emerging the winner of the fuji category while Olatunji also went home with N2 million after winning the juju category.

Oludare Cultural Group, led by a pregnant woman Olubunmi Sadiq, came first in the drumming category and won N1 million.

Consolation prizes ranging from N1m to N250,000 were given to the first and second runner-ups in the three categories.

“We live for nights like this: beautiful music, beautiful people, smiling faces, cash prizes to reward excellence, a promise of a very future for the new talents discovered here and of course an endless supply of Goldberg Lager beer,” said Emmanuel Agu, portfolio manager, mainstream lager and stout, Nigerian Breweries.

“I am impressed by the quality of talent displayed by the music acts discovered in Ariya Repete 2018 and can’t wait to see them excel in the music scene out there.”

In addition to the performances by the contestants, fuji and juju veterans also graced the stage.

King Sunny Ade, performing several of his evergreen songs, wowed the crowd while fuji stars such as KWAM 1, Osupa Saheed and Taye Currency also performed.